


Elena didn't know

by Dahlia_Rose_83



Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Elena is clueless, M/M, Set in Season 3, slight Elena bashing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-16
Updated: 2017-04-16
Packaged: 2018-10-19 15:07:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10642377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dahlia_Rose_83/pseuds/Dahlia_Rose_83
Summary: Damon had wanted to tell her, but Alaric hadn’t been sure yet. Neither had wanted her to find out like this.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this a while ago and never managed to post it until now. It’s not a Elena-friendly story. Hope you don’t mind.

Dear Diary,

summer break is almost over and Stefan is still enslaved by Klaus. I feel so torn. On one hand I'm not ready to give up hope. Hope that he will return to me and everything will go back to normal. At least as normal as it can, considering all that's happened. 

He called me on my birthday. And even though he didn't say a word I was instantly sure that it was him. The fact that he called me can only mean that he didn't flip the switch, like Damon believes. It means that he loves me still. That he misses me as much as I miss him. Right?

On the other hand he killed Andie. He murdered her in cold blood. Why did he do that? Damon isn't even dating her anymore. Officially they mutually agreed on the break-up, because it just didn't work anymore. Damon wouldn't even tell me the real reason. He just jokes around whenever I ask him. I hope that I'm not the reason for the break-up. And at the same time I like the thought that I might be the reason.

I don't know what to think or feel anymore. Since Stefan disappeared everything is so confusing. Damon has been there for me the whole time. I could really count on him. We never talked about the fact that I kissed him when I thought he was dying. I'm glad that he hasn't asked about it. I wasn't thinking back then. I thought I would lose him forever and … it was a goodbye-kiss. Maybe I should just forget about it and move on. But how can I when he's always there, taking care of me?

Still, I'm afraid he'll get his hopes up now. He's always stopping by our house. Every day. Often he's already there when I get up in the morning and he even makes breakfast, which is kinda sweet of him. And even if he spends most of his time with Alaric, I know that he's really just there to see me.

Of course I'm flattered by that. I enjoy his attention, truth be told. I like the fact that he's trying so hard to charm me. Although he doesn't flirt nearly as much as he used to, lately. Probably because of Stefan's absence. He doesn't want to use that to his advantage. It will change again, when Stefan finally comes back. I'm pretty sure of that. Maybe I should remind Damon that I'm in love with his brother. That it will always be Stefan for me. But he knows that. I've told him often enough and it never stopped him. 

And there's nothing wrong with a little harmless flirting, is there? I would never cheat on Stefan. Everyone knows that. Right?

***

With a sigh Elena put the pen down and closed her diary. For a moment she remained sitting on her bed, staring off into space. Her feelings for Damon were pretty confusing lately. She really hoped Stefan would come back soon. Then everything would become easier again. She would be reunited with her one true love and forget that silly, little crush on his older brother in an instant.

Finally she got up and put the diary back under her mattress. Despite the fact that Jeremy had promised never to violate her privacy again, she wanted to be careful. The things she wrote into her diary were private. It was bad enough that her brother had read it once. She didn't want anyone to know about her conflicting feelings for the older Salvatore. Alaric was already watching her worriedly.

Looking at the clock she noticed that it had gotten late. She had to hurry if she wanted to make it to her meeting with Caroline on time. So she grabbed her keys and headed downstairs. Jeremy was working at the Grill, but she heard voices from the living-room. Stepping inside she found Damon and Alaric sitting on the couch, discussing something. Both fell silent when they noticed her.

Elena gave them a suspicious look. “Damon, I didn't know you're here. Did something happen?” she asked sharply. She wouldn't put it past them to keep news about Stefan from her again. They had done it for most of the summer. “No, nothing out of the ordinary. Just making my daily round through the neighborhood.” the vampire joked, winking at her. Elena smiled and muttered: “Okay, if you say so. I've got to go anyways.”, before walking to the door. She really shouldn't encourage his flirting.

###

Damon watched Elena go, before turning back to Alaric, who was giving him a dark look. “What?” the vampire asked in annoyance, although he could already guess. “You said you would stop flirting with her.” Ric reminded. “And I did. That wasn't flirting, Ric. I thought you'd know best how it looks when I flirt.” Damon shot back with a smirk. But the teacher only rolled his eyes. “I think you don't even notice anymore that you flirt.” The vampire was always flirting, after all. With pretty much everyone.

“What do you want me to do? Should I ignore her? Be mean? Tell me what you want me to do.” Damon asked. His friend sighed. “I don't know. Just... don't get her hopes up. She's... emotionally unstable right now.” The dark-haired vampire looked at him with raised eyebrows. “Emotionally unstable?” he mocked. “You know what I mean. Stefan's not there, you're taking care of her... She draws the wrong conclusions.” Ric pointed out.

“Well, she wouldn't if we would just tell her the truth.” Damon reminded. Alaric averted his eyes with a sigh, making the vampire's temper rise. “I'm starting to feel really used here, Ric. How much longer do you want me to be your dirty little secret?” he wanted to know. The teacher went very silent, like he always did, when Damon wanted to talk about their secret relationship. They had been dating for almost a year now. The vampire just didn't get why his boyfriend still insisted on the secrecy.

Okay, so at first it had only been sex. Nothing serious and certainly nothing he wanted the others to know about. It had started shortly after Ric and Jenna had broken up. Damon had tried to console his heartbroken friend, they had gotten drunk and ended up in bed together. On the next morning they had agreed that there was nothing wrong with two buddies having fun with each other every now and then. They had spent the night together every once in a while and for some time it hadn't been more than that.

Damon's faked relationship with Andie and Ric's continued friendship with Jenna hadn't changed that. Okay, the whole Klaus-thing had been a little difficult. Klaus had taken over Alaric's body just after the teacher had confessed to Damon that he wanted more than their friends-with-benefits arrangement. Damon had wanted to think about it and back then Ric had told him it was okay. And then he had been strange and distant and Damon had thought he might have hesitated too long and the teacher didn't want him anymore.

Later he had found out that it hadn't been Ric who had pushed him away, but Klaus in Ric's body. Once the teacher was himself again, he had been totally mad at Damon for not noticing anything. Damon should know him better than anyone else. He should have noticed that something wasn't right. And to top it off the vampire had tried to save Elena's life with a totally stupid move, making Alaric believe he was in love with Elena after all, even though he claimed time and time again that he wasn't. 

Therefore Alaric had left it up to Elena to stay with Damon on his dying bed, thinking it was what the vampire would want. To spend his last moments with her. He hadn't been able to bear the sight of Damon weak and dying anyway. So he had taken care of Jeremy and tried not to think about the fact that he would most likely lose Damon forever.

But late at night Elena had called to tell him that the vampire had been cured and had asked for him. Ric had rushed to the boarding house immediately. He had sent Elena home to look after Jeremy, wanting to be alone with Damon. They had finally talked openly about their feelings and for the first time ever spent the night in the same bed without having sex. From that moment on they were a couple.

And now, weeks later, Alaric still insisted on keeping it secret. Damon was okay with keeping things private. He wasn't a hand-holder anyways and a public outing would mean a lot of trouble he didn't really need right now. But he didn't get why they couldn't just tell Elena and the other kids. It would make things so much easier and spare them a lot of sneaking around.

“I just don't want to … traumatize Elena.” the teacher claimed. “Traumatize? What the fuck, Ric? She'll get over it.” Damon snapped. Ric didn't reply. He didn't even look at his boyfriend, angering the vampire even further. “What are you afraid of, Ric? That people would give you nasty looks? Gossip about us? Or is it because of me? Is it okay to be friends with a psychotic vampire, but openly dating one is taking it a step too far?” He sounded almost hurt.

Alaric sighed and finally looked at him, wincing at the wounded look in those beautiful blue eyes. Maybe it was time to tell him the truth. “I'm scared that you'll leave. That you finally realize what a hopeless loser I am and leave me for Elena or some other pretty girl.” he finally confessed. Damon felt completely taken aback. “Are you nuts? Why should I want Elena if I can have you?” he asked in disbelief. Ric snorted. “Are you serious? Elena is young, beautiful, clever and strong. And I'm just...”

“You're an adult for one. You're sexy and damn smart, Ric.” Damon interrupted him. “You're my best friend. The only one who really knows me. Who really gets me. You're the only one who's able to handle my cynical attitude. You never back down and you tell me to my face when I fuck things up, but you never let me down, even when I totally fuck up. You're always there for me and you make me laugh. Oh and not to forget you're fantastic in the sack.”

Alaric seemed totally taken aback by his words, so the vampire used his speechlessness to continue: “And Elena.. okay, she's young and cute. Young isn't all that much of a plus, you know? She's also difficult, at times really bitchy and annoying. She's a danger magnet and has to be saved all the time. And she's my brother's girl. I won't go there again. I don't want her. I want you. I love you. Only you.” he insisted.

It took a moment for the teacher to process what he was hearing. Slowly a smile spread over his face. “I love you, too.” he whispered finally, pulling Damon closer and kissing him hungrily. “You're right. We should tell her.” he gave in, once their lips had parted. “You sure? I don't want to pressure you and then have you hating me.” the vampire checked. Ric grinned. “I'm sure. Let's wait for a quiet moment and tell her.”

Well, that sounded like a plan. “Alright.” Damon agreed. “And now we should really take advantage of the fact that we have the house to ourselves.” Of course Ric knew what he was hinting at. There was no mistaking the look in his eyes. And after this heady and totally unexpected declaration of love Ric didn't need much convincing. Before the vampire had time to react, Alaric's lips were covering his again, while the teacher's hands were tugging at his shirt. Damon allowed him to pull it off, before reciprocating and freeing Ric from his restricting shirt as well. Then he pushed him down on the couch and started dropping little kisses all over Ric's torso.

Until he caught a movement out of the corner of his eyes. He lifted his head and looked into a pair of shocked, brown eyes. “Elena...” Alaric lifted his head and seemed about to bitch about the fact that his boyfriend had said the brunette's name, when he caught sight of her as well. “Elena..we...” he stammered.

The brunette stumbled backwards a few steps. “I forgot my phone.” she explained, holding it up as prove. “I only noticed when I was halfway to the Grill. So I came back to get it.” Both men had sat up by now. Ric didn't dare to look at her. “That.. we... we wanted... I mean, we are..” Damon stammered, caught off balance and uncharacteristically nervous. “Damon and I are... dating. Have been for some time.” Ric jumped in.

Elena forced a smile to her face, that looked more like a grimace. “Yes, okay. That's... nice. I'm.. happy for you. Both of you. Really. But I really gotta go now. Caroline is waiting and you know how she gets. She won't let me live it down if I'm late.” Whenever Elena was nervous she started babbling like mad. “I might be late. Or not. We'll see. So.. bye.” she finally ended her tirade and practically fled out of the house.

Ric sank back against the couch with a groan. “Fuck, that was awkward.” Damon had obviously already gotten over his shock and only shrugged. “Well, at least now she knows.” The teacher chuckled wryly. “That she does. And even if I wanted to tell her gently... It feels good, doesn't it?” he had to admit. “Hmm. And we won't even have to tell the others. She's going to tell vampire Barbie who will run around gossiping and telling everyone she meets.” the vampire mused, eliciting another groan from his boyfriend.

“Hey, look at it this way – if she had barged in later we might have traumatized her after all.” Damon tried to console him. Alaric had to grin despite himself. “We were lucky then.” he said ironically. Damon grinned and pushed him back down. “Right. And since she won't come back any time soon, let's continue where we left off.” Ric didn't complain.

###

Elena knew she should wait in the car for a few more minutes, try to calm down, before going in to meet Caroline. The blonde was way too observant and would know immediately that something was up. But she knew that it would take more than just a few minutes for her to calm down again. And she was already late. And she didn't want to calm down, damn it. She was too shocked to calm down.

“Elena what's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost.” Caroline greeted her, once she sat down at the table. “Not a ghost. Just.. Damon and Alaric.” Elena mumbled darkly. “Not hard. Ric is practically living with you lately. Which means that Damon is always there as well.” the blonde commented. Elena shook her head and bit her tongue. Should she tell Caroline? Or keep her mouth shut? She would probably keep asking questions until Elena relented, so... “I caught them... kissing.” she blurted.

“Really? Did you snap a picture?” Caroline asked excitedly. The brunette thought she hadn't heard correctly. “What? Did you even listen to me, Care?” Why wasn't the blonde shocked? Why did she ask such an absurd question? Did she think Elena was joking? “Of course I listened to you. You caught Damon and Alaric kissing. So you didn't take a picture?” the vampire asked again. “No, I didn't take a picture. Why aren't you shocked?”

The blonde gave her a critical look and suddenly her eyes widened. “Oh my god, don't tell me you really didn't know.” Elena was really confused by now. “Know what?” she asked. “That the two of them are dating, of course.” Caroline explained, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “You... you knew?” Caroline shrugged. “Of course I knew. It's so obvious. Even Tyler noticed. Okay, after I had pointed it out to him, but still...”

Elena felt totally overwhelmed. Caroline had known the whole time. Even Tyler had known. And neither had told her. “I always thought you're just playing the oblivious one. They're not exactly subtle.” the blonde muttered. Well, obviously they were subtle enough, because no, Elena had never noticed anything. 

Just then Jeremy walked up to their table to take their orders and Elena had seldom been so happy to see her brother. At least until Caroline just included him in their talk. “Elena caught Damon and Alaric kissing.” she let him know giddily. Jeremy grimaced. “Great, did you have to tell me that? I don't want those pictures in my head.” he whined. He didn't seem surprised either.

“Did you know that they...?” Elena asked. “Yeah, of course. Come on, they're so obvious.” Jeremy claimed. “No they're not.” the brunette shot back, having to stop herself from stomping her foot like a petulant child. Was she really the only one who hadn't noticed? “You mean, you really never notice how they flirt? Or the fact that Damon is spending pretty much every night in Ric's bedroom lately?”

“What? No.” Okay, so that explained why Damon was making breakfast so often. He didn't stop by really early, like Elena had believed. He just spent the night there. And he hadn't stopped flirting with her because he had suddenly discovered his conscious and felt bad about Stefan. He had stopped because he just wasn't interested. Probably never had been. That hurt. She had always thought he was in love with her, while he saw nothing in her but an annoying child, who had to be saved all the time.

Yes, she had heard that. She had been standing there a lot longer than both men knew. Too shocked to move, lest they might notice her, she had heard them talking about her. And Damon's words had hurt. Hearing from his own lips how little he thought of her... How had she been so blind? When the two men had started making out to top it off, she had tried to sneak out, but Damon had noticed her.

“So.. what do you want to drink?” Jeremy's voice cut through her musings. Elena forced a smile to her face and ordered a coffee. She listened halfheartedly while Caroline ranted about how envious she felt and how much she wanted to catch Damon and Ric at it. Soon the conversation turned to their usual topics, namely Stefan and Klaus, Tyler and the next full moon and the question when Bonnie would finally return from her family visit. But Elena's thoughts always strayed back to Damon and Alaric.

###

Dear Diary,

how could I be so blind? How did I never notice what's going on between Damon Alaric? Because now that I know I have to admit that they are pretty obvious. Looking back now I notice so many things. The way they look at each other. How they keep touching each other. How they whisper and laugh together, but go quiet when I enter the room...

Could it be that I just didn't want to see it? That I wanted to keep believing Damon might be in love with me, waiting for me to leave Stefan and chose him? Even if I have a hard time admitting it, I enjoyed his attention. The way he flirted with me. But now I can't help but wonder if he ever really meant it. Was he only faking it? Was he only flirting with me to rile up Stefan?

It probably doesn't matter. We're still friends, right? I don't want to lose his friendship. I need him in my life. But I'm mad at my other friends. No one felt the need to tell me that my stepfather is secretly dating the vampire I have a little crush on. They all knew. Caroline, Jeremy, Bonnie.. Even Tyler knew. I'm sure Stefan knows as well. Probably even Klaus knows it. Only I didn't.

***

Huffing in annoyance Elena closed her diary, put it back into her hiding place and crawled into bed. She could hear laughter and quiet voices from the direction of Ric's bedroom. Obviously the two men didn't feel the need to be quiet anymore, now that she knew. Elena pulled the covers over her head and wished she could still be as clueless as she had been this morning.


End file.
